It was alleged that on March 30, 2014 at approximately 10 pm, when the devotees went on graves inside Karbala for prayers, the police officials started creating a wall of bamboos and tin sheets to permanently close the entrance to restrain devotees.

In the revision petitions, the petitioners have claimed that Patel was trying to grab the land of the Dargah Shah-e-Mardan, one of the most revered religious places of the Shia community. (Express/Archive)

A Delhi court has summoned Congress MP Ahmad Patel on a plea seeking lodging of an FIR against him for trying to allegedly usurp Waqf land at Karbala in Jorbagh area at New Delhi. Additional Sessions Judge Neera Bharihoke issued notice to Patel on the complaint lodged by two residents of Karbala and devotees of Dargah Shah-e-Mardan in Jorbagh.

The order was passed on December 23, 2017 on the revision petitions filed by Dilawar Abbas Naqvi, a Karbala resident, and Zaharul Hassan, manager of Anjumane-e-Haideri responsible for taking care of Waqf properties situated in Jorbagh in south Delhi. However, a document directing Patel to personally appear before it on February 24 was issued on Wednesday, a court staff said.

It was alleged that on March 30, 2014 at approximately 10 pm, when the devotees went on the graves inside Karbala for prayers, the police officials started creating a wall of bamboos and tin sheets to permanently close the entrance to restrain the devotees. The petitioners claimed they were restrained by the police from entering the property and when they resisted, the policemen threatened to beat them up while saying they had orders from Congress MP Ahmad Patel.

The pleas, filed through advocate Mohd Danish, challenged the September 29, 2017 order of a magisterial court by which their plea for lodging of an FIR was dismissed. In the revision petitions, the petitioners have claimed that Patel was trying to grab the land of the Dargah Shah-e-Mardan, one of the most revered religious places of the Shia community.

It alleged that the Dargah had vast tracts of open land, because of which it has constantly been in the eyes of “powerful land mafia allegedly headed by Respondent 1 (Patel) who has been one of the most powerful and influential political personalities in the country”.